Temple

Address
1201 Harmon Place, Mpls., 612-767-3770, mplstemple.com

The Scene
Spiritual and sensual. That’s the feeling that restaurant impresario Thom Pham (Azia, ThanDo) says he is striving to achieve with his latest venture. Pham’s stylish transformation of the former Tiburón space achieves that objective. The spirituality half of the equation includes smoking sticks of incense planted in a pot outside the entrance and a small, enclosed greeter’s sanctuary with a ceramic Buddha shrine and a burbling fountain. The sensuality dimension includes a sexy-chic interior that sparkles with scads of candles and jeweled light fixtures, all tinged by red backlighting. A bit of serenity is provided by a collection of koi lazily swimming in the large aquarium that divides the dining room from the lively bar and lounge. A cascading waterfall is the coup de grace. Indeed, this is all close to nirvana for the crowd of young professionals out to enjoy the music and one of the most creative drink menus in town.

Our Take
Anytime a chef sets out to innovate, there are bound to be hits and misses. That’s my overall impression of the ambitious French-Asian fusion menu created by executive chef Tuan Nguyen, most recently of Napa Valley Grill. Some selections are perfect as they are: A wonderful play on Peking duck came with mandarin pancakes and a pineapple-hoisin sauce; a deliciously fresh, Champagne-poached-to-perfection piece of wild salmon was set atop a bed of seasoned rapini and topped with a Chinese black bean–butter sauce. Other options could have benefited from a bit of tinkering: Simple fixes for shortcomings included reducing the liver intensity of ravioli that accompanied overcooked pan-roasted quail, and paying a bit more attention to the timing of the ingredients in an entrée of grilled freshwater prawns and tempura vegetables. A very few dishes—the carrot-and-cucumber-laden Vietnamese duck spring rolls, a lifeless caesar salad, an unharmonius star fruit tart—needed basic retooling. The food at Temple is not cheap, and at these prices, there needs to be greater consistency. The service crew was first-rate. Pacing, attentiveness, and knowledge were all very high—exceptional for such a new restaurant.

Monkfish Liver?
Offered as an appetizer and topped with osetra caviar, this smooth, silky rendition of the Japanese delicacy known as “ankimo” is the first monkfish liver I recall seeing listed on a local menu. Most of the time, it’s secreted under the counter at sushi bars and doled out to select customers. Unfortunately, a recent surge in popularity (the livers grow to half a foot in length and a pound in weight) is thought to be leading to overfishing, so try it while you can. Or avoid it, depending on your perspective.